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Who doesn’t know the little and big annoyances in everyday work? A study by the job platform Monster from the USA shows what employees think about manners in the workplace and which behaviors bother them. Half of those surveyed believe respectful communication is the most important behavior in the workplace. No wonder: after all, communication is the basis for good teamwork and better results. However, around a third of employees do not feel that their workplace is a respectful environment in which manners are appropriately valued.
In order for respectful cooperation to be successful, not only clear rules for structure, organization and communication are needed, but also strategies with which teams can make a concrete contribution in everyday life. The following is about four typical behaviors that disrupt a respectful work environment – and what companies can do about it.
1. Create chaos
Almost 9 out of 10 respondents chose not cleaning up after themselves as one of the most annoying behaviors at work. Good to observe in the office, where there is an orphaned coffee cup in the conference room or half-full water glasses over the dishwasher. What’s often even worse: there is also chaos digitally. Work is slowed down not only by the absence of colleagues, but also because no one cares about order in the digital space. Outdated documents accumulate, files are incorrectly named or saved twice, folders lose their structure and key information disappears in chats.
The solution: No matter whether in the office, in the home office or hybrid: If you want better collaboration, you need a clear commitment in the team – because everyone is responsible for order and efficiency. If disorder is simply accepted in individual places, it can quickly lead to others reducing their efforts to create common processes.
This includes cleaning up after yourself, regardless of rank or role – analogue and digital. Documentation should be easy to find for everyone, as should shared processes and standards. Those who use digital tools specifically and clearly structure filing systems not only save time when searching, but also ensure that everyone is better informed and can deliver results together more quickly.
2. Blaspheme
Most people loathe it, but many probably do it: 81 percent of those surveyed by Monster consider gossip to be one of the most annoying behaviors in everyday work. To a certain extent, gossip in professional life may be annoying, but it is completely normal and even important in a harmless form: as an outlet for frustration or for orientation in a new team.
What is crucial, however, is how and with what attitude one speaks. Derogatory statements are not only inappropriate, they also destroy trust within the team and undermine the corporate culture.
This is particularly important in larger, hybrid companies: fewer personal encounters make it more difficult to build close relationships and stay up to date. Misunderstandings are commonplace and many feel isolated or inadequately informed. In such situations, harmless conversations can quickly turn into derogatory gossip and create a work environment that does not provide psychological safety.
The solution: In order to address disagreements and increase satisfaction within the team, companies should think about concepts such as coaching, mentoring and mental health advice. At the same time, they should encourage their employees to arrange regular check-ins with others. This not only strengthens interpersonal relationships: informal conversations often result in helpful solutions to personal challenges or ideas for new projects.
3. Don’t respond
Ghosting also exists at work: According to the Monster study, 77 percent of those surveyed are bothered when messages remain unanswered. Projects come to a halt when there is a lack of feedback. This is often not due to poor manners, but rather to distraction: In the digitalized world of work, the growing number of tools and incoming messages have not made it any easier to keep track of things and stay organized. According to Bitkom, an average of 42 emails per day ended up in work inboxes in Germany in 2023 – excluding chat messages.
The solution: It is advisable to briefly thank you for the message and give an assessment, even if a detailed answer is not possible at that moment. This way, the receiving person retains control over the deadline and knows that their request has been taken care of. Another option is to schedule a specific time every day to check and respond to missed emails.
4. Constantly being late
Have you already experienced it? The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m., but five minutes later not everyone is there? 77 percent rate regular lateness in meetings as particularly annoying. At the same time, only 14 percent cite punctuality as the most important behavior – a sign that although punctuality is often not noticed, constant lateness is even more so. Flexible working hours and home office may play their part, but making others wait is considered disrespectful and significantly disrupts the process.
The solution: Teams are welcome to take a closer look here to analyze and rethink their meeting culture. Are they always the same ones who are late? Isn’t anything important ever discussed in the first few minutes anyway? Or, hand on heart: Are there too many meetings that could have been an email?
The path to high-performing teams
Small annoyances are part of everyday work – but they should never go so far that they prevent teams from effectively creating added value. The focus should be on a culture of accountability, shared alignment and collaboration based on respect for each individual. Where this is successful, well-coordinated teams and results that really count are created. (pg/fm)
